Letters From War
by AmayaSaria
Summary: After ten years, Kenshin and Kaoru settle down. At age 41, Kenshin’s been drafted to war. Kaoru and their son, Kenji await his return. That is, if he can survive. Slight AU. Slight KK Fluff Twoshot RR 2nd chappy more focused on Kenji.
1. News of Kenshin

Letters From War

By: AmayaSaria

AN: I don't think I've ever done a Ruroni Kenshin fanfic before. All well, I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review!

Summary: After ten years, Kenshin and Kaoru settle down. At age 41, Kenshin's been drafted to war. Kaoru and their son, Kenji await his return. That is, if he can survive.

Kenshin moved forward throughout the battles. It was only about a month ago, when the news came to him about being drafted. Gunshots and bombs blew up everywhere he looked.

'I must make it home, for Kenji. He must not go on without a father, only being 10 years old. And if that's not a good enough reason, then I must make it home for Kaoru.' He thought. He patted his chest to make sure the two letters were there.

One for Kaoru, one for Kenji. Those were there if anything should happen to him.

Kenshin fought with great difficulty. Swords were not used as often as they used to be. The enemy attack with guns, bombs, almost anything they could get their hands on.

Kenshin was fighting with his sword. He had a hard time killing, remembering his vows he made to never kill. It left Kenshin distracted.

'Concentrate!' His mind shouted. But no matter how good he was in the past, it wasn't the same. Kenshin had grown old, and he had not practiced his sword style since Kenji was born.

That left him slow, and weak. It was a miracle he was still alive.

All of sudden, Kenshin's ears perked up.

"Ready…! Aim…! Fire…!" He the enemy's shouts. His eyes widened. A wall of bullets came flying at him, and his comrades. Kenshin did his best to dodge some of them, but his efforts had gone to waste.

Kenshin got shot, many times. He hit the ground hard.

'I'm sorry Kenji. I'm really sorry Kaoru. I'll love you forever and always.' He struggled to smile, one more time.

Those were Kenshin's last and final breaths.

A car pulled into Kaoru's driveway. Kaoru looked up from her laundry she was hanging up outside. Out stepped a Captain, right were Kenshin stood before he left for war.

Kaoru fell to the ground.

"Oh God no!…Please no!" She yelled, the tears streaming down her face. The Captain walked over to Kaoru, bent down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm very sorry. Your husband Kenshin Himura is dead." He said apologetically.

"Oh no…" Kaoru closed her eyes and let the tears fall freely.

"We found these two letters addressed to you and your son Kenji, in Mr. Himura's clothing." He said handing her the letters. The Captain got up and left.

Kaoru held the letters close to her heart, and got up to find Kenji.

"Kenji…. Could you come here a minute?" Kaoru said.

"Coming mom!" Little Kenji said, coming in with sweat on his face, putting down his bokken. "What is it, Ma?" He asked, unsure of what was going on.

Kaoru smile. Kenji was practicing swordsmanship, just like his father did.

"Kenji…" Kaoru started, the tears starting to swell up in her eyes. Little 10-year-old Kenji's eyes widened.

"It finally happened, didn't Mother? Father died in war, didn't he?" Kaoru looked away as her tears started falling again. She meekly nodded. Little Kenji's eyes watered, but he tried to blink them away. He had to be strong for Mother!

"He left you a letter." She said, handing him the envelope. Kenji nodded. He opened it up, and read it aloud.

Dear Kenji,

It upsets me greatly if you are reading this letter right now. It means that I have died in battle, leaving you and your mother alone. Please…do not mourn over my loss. I have died with honor, for fighting for what I believe in.

Please take care of your mother for me. Don't forget to be brave; you're the man of the house now. Keep practicing your mother's sword style. Kenji, I am proud that you were my son, and I always will. I love you very much; I will be watching you from afar.

Love Your Father,

Kenshin Himura

Kenji folded up the letter in the envelope. The tears started swelling up again. Kaoru dropped to he knees and opened up her arms for Kenji.

"It's okay to cry…" She whispered. Kenji went running into her arms.

"Mom, I miss him so much." Kenji sobbed into his mother's chest.

"I know honey, I do too." Kaoru said, holding him tight.

Everything was quiet for the rest of the evening. Kenji got more intense, and kept on practicing with his bokken. Kenji practiced to ignore his feelings.

Kaoru tucked her little boy in. He was exhausted from training, and the news of his father. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out right away.

"Goodnight my little boy." Kaoru whispered as she exited his room.

Kaoru slowly went to her room, and sat down on the floor. She pulled out the letter.

My Dearest Kaoru,

I am very sorry that you are reading this letter right now. It means something has happened to me. Kaoru, I had no intent of leaving you, but I'm sorry it turned out this way. Please do not cry or mourn my loss.

Kaoru, I want you to know I spend every minute thinking of you ever since I left. I thought how much I missed you and how much I needed you. I'm sorry to make you a widow at such an early age of thirty. Kaoru, you and Kenji will always be my pride and joy. Please take care of Kenji, love him well, and grow him up right. I love you. Don't cry; show the world your beautiful smile. I'll be watching over you from afar.

I love you from now, until the end of time.

Love your Husband,

Kenshin Himura.

"Kenshin…" Kaoru whispered, the tears falling again. "I love you too…." She whispered into the night.

Kaoru cried herself to sleep that night.

AN: Okay, that was very depressing for me to write. Let me clear something up. Kaoru and Kenshin married when Kaoru was 19, making Kenshin 30. Kaoru had Kenji when she was 20, Kenshin 31. This fic is ten years later, making Kaoru 30, Kenshin 40, and Kenji 10. I hope that cleared some things up. Oh yea…this fic is slight AU. Not really though. PLEASE REVIEW! Oh there is one more chapter coming up, and if you're interested, its about Kenji.


	2. Letters

Letters From War

By: AmayaSaria

AN: This one is more focused on Kenji. I hope you all enjoy! This is the last chapter, after all, it's only a two-shot!

-----15 Years After Kenshin's Death------

It was a beautiful summer day, and the sun was shining down on Kaoru. She walked to her mailbox to check her mail.

She shuffled through a couple of her envelopes, and found what she was looking for.

A letter from Kenji. He was in a war, far away.

Kenji had joined the army recently. He wanted to fight for what he believed in, just like his father. (Although he wasn't drafted.) Every chance Kenji had, he said he would write her letters.

Kaoru read the letter. He spoke of the weather, and good friends that he made. But one thing he said really caught her eye

He said: "Said I've been thinking about Dad, and the life that he had, that's why I'm here today." Kenji really admired his father. Kaoru kept him alive in her heart and Kenji's. She used to always tell Kenji stories about her father, and he loved all of them.

Then at the end he said, "You are what I'm fighting for." He said he would write that in every letter to Kaoru, and it made her smile.

She didn't waste time to respond to him. She started writing:

"You are good, and you're brave. What a father that you'll be someday. Make it home, make it safe." (It's a sum of the letter)

She wrote every night, as she prayed to Kenshin.

"Kenshin, please help him make it through. Watch over him for me, keep him safe. I love you." And every night she would do the same thing. Write her letter, pray to Kenshin, and then fall asleep. Then every morning she would mail the letter.

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Then a day late in December, it was a day Kaoru would never, ever forget. Her tears stained the paper, with every word that she read. It said:

"I was up on a hill, I was out there alone, when the shots all rang out, and bombs were exploding. And that's when I saw him he came back for me. Even though I was captured a man set me free.

And Ma'am, that man was your son. He asked me to write to you, I told him I would .Oh I swore on my life that I would. I made sure this got to you, no matter what it took. Your son loves you very much, and he was proud to have a mom like you. He had to continue on, leaving me behind to aid.

Ma'am, Mrs. Himura, I think your son will make it home alright."

She prayed he was living, kept on believing.

Kaoru immediately responded to his letter.. She started writing:

"You are good, and you're brave! What a father that you'll be someday. Make it home, make it safe." (Still a sum of the letters.)

Kaoru didn't care if the letters would get to him or not. She kept writing each day, and every night she'd pray to Kenshin to watch their son.

"Watch over him Kenshin, make sure he comes back home to me." Kaoru would say every night.

It was the last of his letters from war.

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Two years later

Autumn leaves danced all around Kaoru, while she did her laundry outside. She sighed.

"Kenshin, I remember how you use to always do the laundry. Oh God, I really miss you." Kaoru said aloud. "Kenshin, I'm really worried about Kenji. You and Kenji are all I can think about. I haven't gotten a response from Kenji for almost two years by now. And he's still not home. Do you think something happened to him---" Kaoru was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling up in her driveway.

Kaoru fell to the ground.

"Oh God no! Not again! Not Kenji…..!" The tears filled her eyes.

A young Captain came out of the car, and saluted her. The man spoke to her, in a strong, loud voice.

"Mom I'm following orders from all of your letters and I've come home again." Kaoru gasped.

"Kenji!" She didn't recognize him from far away. Kenji dropped all of his bags on the ground. He ran into hold her.

"Mom, I missed you!" He said while hugging her. All of a sudden, he dropped some sort of package.

"What's this?" Kaoru asked. She picked it up. Kaoru gasped.

It was all of her letters she sent them.

"You kept them?" She asked.

"It was the only thing that kept me going. And also the fact that if I died and went to where Dad is, he'd kick me out." Kaoru hugged him. "It was Dad, he was watching over me this whole time, I could feel him with me everywhere I went."

"I missed you Kenji." She said, holding him tight. "Thank you Kenshin. Thank you for watching over our son." She whispered.

And from afar, Kenshin was watching their reunion. And he smiled.

AN: Touching ending. I hope you all enjoyed it. Oh by the way, at the beginning since it's 15 yrs later, Kaoru was 45, Kenji 25. At the end Kaoru was 47, Kenji 27. (Remember its 2 years later at the end. Oh, and by the way…I got this idea from the song/music video Letters From War by Mark Schultz. Review please, tell me what you thought! Goodbye!


End file.
